Introduction

Rio de Janeiro is recognized as a wonderful city and there are several attractions for tourists. The metropolitan area is usually selected as a major travel destination, however outside the capital there are interesting places to visit.

The purpose of this study is to select a location in the state of Rio de Janeiro in order to rent a vacation home. The main selected locations are not in the state capital, but include the region of the lakes (Lagos), mountains (Serrana) and Bahia da Ilha Grande.

Data

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE in Portuguese) data were used to identify spatial coordinates. Foursquare data will also be used to identify the main resources of cities.

Methodology

In order to segment the locations, Kmeans was used. An unsupervised machine learning technique that can help us verify what similarities exist between locations. The variables used to analyze the similarities of these regions were the venues extracted from the proximity with the spatial coordinates provided for each region.

Results

The full list from regions to analysis is below

Following is the map with all locations

Cluster neighborhoods

The map with all locations aggregated in clusters pos kmeans

Examine clusters

Cluster 0

Cluster 1

Cluster 2 and 3

Cluster 4 and 5

Cluster 6

Cluster 6 (continue)

Discussion

Seven clusters were selected. Clusters 1 and 6 are the ones that added more localities. They are clusters that concentrate the most visited cities in these selected regions.

Cluster 1

  • In Abraão there are a lot of options of hotels ans hostels, you can stay there by little money. There are also good beach options.
  • Arraial do Cabo is a great place. There is wonderful beaches and there may be more cheaper than Cabo Frio and Búzios (nearby places).

Cluster 1 there are more locations near a beach and can be more cheaper than locations in cluster 6

Cluster 6

  • Paraty was interesting because it contains diverse places, such as: beach, historic places, bookstores.
  • To get a european experience in Brazil, Petrópolis is a nice place to go. Chocolate shop and German Restaurante as main options.
  • Cabo Frio and Búzios are great places, but they are very expensive.

Cluster 6 has higher cost locations, such as restaurants specializing in international dishes.

The other places, by the my experience look less interesting to visit.

Conclusion

Really, Rio de Janeiro is an excellent place, with several options: from the beach or the mountains. There are places for all tastes. Even very interesting places you can spend a lot less money.